Improvement in potato-planters



lUNITED STATES PATENT GEEIOE.

JOSEPH L. TRUE, OE BENTON, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-PLANTERS.

' Speoication forming part of Letters Patent No. 85,547, dated January 5, 1869. l

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH L. TRUE, of

' Benton, of the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Potato-Planters; and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a top View, Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 a transverse section, of a planter-frame with my invention applied to it.

Such other figures as may be necessary to a complete representation of my invention will be hereinafter referred to and described.

My said invention has reference to that for which Letters Patent No. 46,281 were granted to me on the 7th day of February, A. D. 1865.

Like the machine described in such patent, I have in my present machine a reciprocating slide, A, formed with compartments a a, to

operate with a stationary knife, B, extending through'a slot, b, made in such slide and fastened to standards c c, erected on the frame G of the machine. Under the said slide is a conveyer,D, in the rear of which are two coverers, E `E, which are united by an adjustable inclined coverer and gage, F, which, at each end,is so applied to each coverer as to be capable of being adjusted to such level with respect to it as occasion may require. For this purpose the gage F has an ear, d, extendingup from each end of it, the said ear being provided with a slot, e, to receive a clamp-screw, f, screwed into the next adjacent coverer and the bar g, by which it is supported.

A hopper, F', to hold the potatoes and direct them into the chambers a a of the slider A, is arranged over the latter. Such slide isprovided with adjustable slides h h, arranged on its top, and applied to it so as to render each capable of being moved either toward or away from a guide or projectiom, arranged between the two compartments a a and extended above the slider, in manner as represented.

Within the slider A there are also two side gages, k 7s, they being formed of thin strips of metal bent inthe shapes as shown in Fig. 4, which is a top view of them. They are also arranged in auxiliary slides l l, which are fixed to the main slides h h, and formed as shown in top View in Fig. 5, in side View in Fig. 6,

and in end views in Figs. 7 and 8, each of such gages being curved at its ends, as shown at w w. The side gages are placed Within the spaces m m of each' slide l,tl1e whole being so that, when the slides or end gages h h are moved toward the projection 'i to diminish the widths of the compartments a a, the side gages will be moved toward each other, so as to further diminish the passages through which the potatoes are to descend in the slider A. So, when the end gages are .moved apart,` the side gages will also be moved apart from each other. Y

From the above it will be seen thatv the size of the potato-ducts leading outbotl the hopper may be varied as circumstances may require, to accommodate the machine to potatoes of dii'erent sizes.

The slider A is arranged directly over a ribbed platform, G, formed as shown in top view in Fig. 9, in side elevation in Fig. 10, and in under-side view in Fig. 11. This platform has an opening, n, through its middle. It also has two series of transverse grooves madein its lower side, as shown at o o. Furthermore, it has side lips ,fp 10, arranged on it in manner as shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

When the platform G is in place it rests on two bell-cranks, g g, each of which enters one of the grooves ofthe series o o, such cranks being arranged in the frame() in manner as represented in Fig. 2, and also in Fig. 12, which is a top view ofthe frame C, such frame being provided with shoulders i' r 1' r, between which the side lips p p are arranged, and against which they bear. These cranks and series of grooves, the side lips, and shoulders serve to support the platform vin position, and enable it to be adjusted to different altitudes or distances from the bottom of the slider A.

The auxiliary slides l Z of the slider A are provided with teeth s s s, to enter the spaces between the parallel ribs t t t of the platform, the purpose of such teeth and ribs being to prevent the pieces of potato from getting between the slider and the platform.

This machine operates in most particulars like my patented machine, but in several respects is an improvement with reference to it.

I claim- 1. The arrangement and combination of the side gages lak, and mechanism for adjusting plied to the platform G and the frame C, theyr being as and for the purpose described.

4. The arrangement and combination of the adjustable gage F with the two coverers E E', applied to the frame C of the planting mechanism.

JOSEPH L. TRUE.

Witnesses;

R. E. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

